Mexico's ongoing drug cartel problems have created a virtual powder keg, so when a black Toyota Land Cruiser with diplomatic plates refused to stop for federal police, they opened fire, injuring two U.S. embassy employees and one Mexican sailor.

The embassy party was driving through a mountainous region teeming with drug gangs, so it's not all that surprising that the SUV's driver decided not to stop as they made their way toward Mexico City. But it also makes sense that the police, who were investigating a kindnapping, fired their weapons.

The Mexican Marines killed Arturo Beltrán Leyva, head of the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel, in 2009, leaving behind a power vacuum. The result has been a drug gang free for all in that region, so those charged by the government to carry weapons undoubtedly have itchy trigger fingers.

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The 12 officers are in jail for the next 30 days as the, uh, justice system down there investigates the charges brought against them: attempted murder, bodily harm, property damage, abuse of authority, and abuse of public duty.